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Faces in distemper

Because colors in distemper dry quickly & one would not
have leisure to perfect the shadows & touches on the face, one wets
the reverse of the face which is on canvas with a wet
sponge. Then, with a small pinceau, one makes
the shadows, which do not come undone. Next, one lays the flesh color,
which does not prevent the already painted shadows from appearing. And
again with a more lively flesh color, one touches the more prominent
areas. And with another pinceau one does the shadows
again by hatching. The shadow strokes do not come undone
because they are made of bistre, which stains the canvas
like rust. The said bistre is good with for
making shadows in distempermix, for in oil it
has no body & would not dry but with great difficulty. One mixes in
the said bistre, for shadow, ocre de ru & a
little sap green. The best bistre is the greasy &
shiny kind from the fireplaces of large kitchens. It is
difficult to grind & screeches on the marble.


Azure

Azur d’esmail always wants to be cleaned because the
filth that can be seen in the laveures makes it die. One needs
to coat it two times, & the first very thick, moving the
pinceau by laying it first lengthwise then across.
 It is better used on canvas, where it is imbibed
immediately, than on wood. Varnish returns it to its
vigor, because being imbibed, it becomes dark. To try it,
painters bring their palette to the
grocers, & distemper & alloy it with a little white
ground in oil, for in this way, the beautiful shows its
turquine vivacity, but the bad is lavender grey. The most
delicate is the best for working. It is thinned working by
washing it.


Violet and lake

It is made of azure & lake which is also assayed
on the palette with white. It is deemed beautiful that which
which, on a polished knife or on glass gives a
clear red color of red rose, tending a little towards violet.
The kind which is blac dark red is not as pleasant.

